Eurolanche

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Landy about being "A": It is huge honour

Gabriel Landeskog has been named the alternate captain of Sweden at Olympics in Sochi.

After Henrik Sedin had to pull out of the Olympics due to injury, Marcus Johansson was called in as his replacement. But Henrik was also named Alternate Captain along with Niklas Kronwall with the Captain Henrik Zetterberg. As Henrik can´t play at Olympics, that honour has now been passed to Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog.

"To be honest I was quite shocked by it. But on the other hand I want to thank the coaching staff for putting the faith in me. And of course it’s a huge honour. Now I just need to not take anything for granted and prove that I deserve it", said Landeskog.

When did you find out?"When I arrived today, I talked to Pär Mårts (head coach) immediately and he told me it. It was a bit of a surprise but I’ll happily take it," said the newly appointed alternate captain of Team Sweden.

Sweden´s head coach Pär Mårts didn’t hesitate before awarding Landeskog with the “A”. "I think it was a time. We have a few players born in the 90’s, it’s the beginning of a new era and I think he should take it. He is the captain in Colorado," said Pär Mårts.

Pär Mårts was then asked why Landeskog was named alternate captain of Sweden at the WC team of 2012 but not in 2013. "It depends on which other players are there and who he was in competition for. That’s the deciding factor. It’s a part of his development. Sometimes you’re the captain and sometimes you’re not", says Mårts.

Landeskog and Mårts did this interview for Swedish site Expressen.se and our friendRobin Fredriksson translated it exclusively for Eurolanche.